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Clinical Pediatric Neurology, A Signs and Symptoms Approach
European Journal of Paediatric Neurology (2003) 7, 424
www.elsevier.com/locate/ejpn
BOOK REVIEW Clinical Pediatric Neurology, A Signs and Symptoms Approach Fourth edition, Gerald Fenichel, Saunders Publishers Ltd, London, UK, 2001, 405 pages, hardback, ISBN 0721692346, £63.99 The title of Gerald M. Fenichel’s book ‘Clinical pediatric neurology, A signs and symptoms approach’. is promising. At last a book that deals with problems as they present in real life. This is the fourth edition and the book although retained the original format has undergone a considerable change in content. The main intent of this book is to provide an approach to commonly presenting problems in children with disorders of the nervous system. There are 18 chapters and each of them is devoted to a different group of disorders. The title of the chapter indicates the symptoms or group of symptoms that may be the presenting features. Each chapter starts with a brief description of the symptoms and some thoughts about differential diagnoses. Something I found especially valuable were the author’s suggestions about questions
doi:10.1016/j.ejpn.2003.08.003
that have to be asked regarding certain symptoms or specific important points in the clinical examination. When talking about specific diseases Fenichel stresses constellations of symptoms and the sequence with which they are likely to appear. While stressing the symptoms without which a diagnosis cannot be made he also points out other symptoms that are often overlooked or misinterpreted. The book contains many tables summarising the diagnostic process. The illustrations are few but of excellent quality. For me the main value of the book was the way the material was selected and organised. This is not just a lexicon of symptoms. Fenichel goes through the complexities of the differential diagnosis of neurological symptoms in childhood with great precision and flexibility. In the preface to his book Fenichel writes ‘the future of textbook publishing may be somewhat in doubt’. In my opinion his book goes a long way to stifle this doubt. Just like we need good friends, we need good textbooks. Irena Dyduch Bochnia General Hospital, Bochnia, Poland
www.elsevier.com/locate/ejpn
BOOK REVIEW Clinical Pediatric Neurology, A Signs and Symptoms Approach Fourth edition, Gerald Fenichel, Saunders Publishers Ltd, London, UK, 2001, 405 pages, hardback, ISBN 0721692346, £63.99 The title of Gerald M. Fenichel’s book ‘Clinical pediatric neurology, A signs and symptoms approach’. is promising. At last a book that deals with problems as they present in real life. This is the fourth edition and the book although retained the original format has undergone a considerable change in content. The main intent of this book is to provide an approach to commonly presenting problems in children with disorders of the nervous system. There are 18 chapters and each of them is devoted to a different group of disorders. The title of the chapter indicates the symptoms or group of symptoms that may be the presenting features. Each chapter starts with a brief description of the symptoms and some thoughts about differential diagnoses. Something I found especially valuable were the author’s suggestions about questions
doi:10.1016/j.ejpn.2003.08.003
that have to be asked regarding certain symptoms or specific important points in the clinical examination. When talking about specific diseases Fenichel stresses constellations of symptoms and the sequence with which they are likely to appear. While stressing the symptoms without which a diagnosis cannot be made he also points out other symptoms that are often overlooked or misinterpreted. The book contains many tables summarising the diagnostic process. The illustrations are few but of excellent quality. For me the main value of the book was the way the material was selected and organised. This is not just a lexicon of symptoms. Fenichel goes through the complexities of the differential diagnosis of neurological symptoms in childhood with great precision and flexibility. In the preface to his book Fenichel writes ‘the future of textbook publishing may be somewhat in doubt’. In my opinion his book goes a long way to stifle this doubt. Just like we need good friends, we need good textbooks. Irena Dyduch Bochnia General Hospital, Bochnia, Poland